Federal judge Tanya Chutkan issues restraining order pending new filings over billions in axed research grants

A federal judge considering the Trump administration’s abrupt cancellation of climate research grants worth billions of dollars told government lawyers they had to produce “some kind of evidence” of wrongdoing to back up such drastic actions.

Climate United, which coordinates investment in clean energy projects, sued to seek access to $7bn that was frozen before it was cancelled on Tuesday night by Lee Zeldin, the New York Republican congressman turned administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).